ARtillry Briefs, Episode 10: XR's 2017 Lessons

VR hardware sales disappointed in 2017. But it’s not all bad news: Hope in XR was boosted through enterprise AR’s promise, standalone VR’s introduction and lots of investment in enabling technologies.

These were a few 2017 lessons in ARtillry’s latest Intelligence Briefing, XR: 2017 Lessons, 2018 Predictions. Following coverage earlier this week on 2018 predictions, what did we learn last year to inform that outlook? We boil it down in the latest episode of ARtillry Briefs (video below).

The short version: slower than expected consumer VR adoption defined 2017. But there were positive leading indicators, such as VC funding levels. That was the case for building block technologies that will support XR functionality and viability over the next five years.

Meanwhile, VR’s volume challenges contrasted mobile AR‘s massive installed base, causing attention to shift to the latter’s near-term scale. But pent up anticipation for ARkit was met with disappointing app libraries, and we began to learn important lessons for native design tactics.

Enterprise AR was a bright spot, given measurable ROI that will drive organizational adoption into 2018. Speaking of bright spots, the introduction of standalone VR such as Oculus Go will have mainstream friendly pricing and dedicated hardware to give consumer adoption the jolt it needs.

All of these factors represent a foundation for where XR goes in 2018. Though 2017 had some tough spots and the beginnings of a shakeout, there were important lessons that will embolden XR players with a better knowledge position into 2018. See the full commentary below.

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Disclosure: ARtillry has no financial stake in the companies mentioned in this post, nor received payment for its production. Disclosure and ethics policy can be seen here.